This invention relates to the commercial processing of food products, and more particularly to the automatic cutting of fish fillets and other food products to predetermined portion weights or profile shapes.
Commercial production of fish fillets of predetermined portion weights heretofore has been afforded by the method and apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,019. This method and apparatus involves the intermittent scanning of fish fillets as they move along a conveyor to determine the weights of a plurality of longitudinally adjacent thin slices of each fillet and the number of such slices required to produce the desired portion weight, and then activating a cutter to move transversely across the conveyor to cut the fillet along lines which correspond to the number of slices in each fillet portion, to produce a plurality of portions of equal weight and volume.
Although the above described method and apparatus is satisfactory for limited commercial production, it is incapable of a production level necessary to keep up with present day food assembly and packaging operations. Further, it is incapable of producing fish fillets and other food products of predetermined profile shapes, such as are desirable in the packaging of sandwiches, frozen dinners and other foods.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In its basic concept, the method and apparatus of this invention involves the scanning of fish or chicken fillets or other food products as each moves along a conveyor, to determine the plan and/or thickness profiles of the product, and activating one or more cutters to cut the product to predetermined profile shapes or portion weights.
It is by virtue of the foregoing basic concept that the principal objective of this invention is achieved; namely, to overcome the aforementioned limitations of U.S. Pat. No. 4,557,019. Specifically, the method and apparatus of this invention provide the following improvements over the method and apparatus disclosed in said patent:
The present invention provides increased commercial production of cut food products by providing faster cutting and by cutting completely through the food product on the conveyor line.
Increased commercial production also is achieved by allowing food products to be placed upon the infeed end of the processing conveyor randomly at diverse angles relative to the line of conveyor movement, thereby allowing more rapid delivery and deposit of food product on the conveyor.
Increased commercial production also is achieved by allowing the deposit of food product at the infeed end of the conveyor in a plurality of laterally spaced production lanes on the single conveyor, for simultaneous processing.
The method and apparatus of this invention also enable the cutting of food products to any desired profile shape, independently of weight or while maintaining a predetermined weight.
The method and apparatus of this invention also accommodate the removal of undesirable areas of a product, such as the strips of fat and blood spots extending into fish fillets and the peripheral fat of chicken breasts and other meats.
The method and apparatus of this invention provide for the cutting of food products to diverse profile shapes by the controlled movement of a line-type cutter transversely across the conveyor at various speeds and direction to effect cutting the food products along longitudinally extending profiling lines during movement on the conveyor.
The method and appartus of this invention utilize line-type cutters such as a laser or, preferably, a high pressure water jet, mounted to be moved very quickly or at slower, variable speeds transversely across the conveyor. Use of high pressure water jet cutting ensures retention of the product in position on the conveyor and consequent accuracy of cutting; it minimizes kerf loss; and precludes spoilage of product which can result from cutting with a metal saw or other cutter.
Further, the line-type cutters utilized in the method and apparatus of this invention are mounted for adjustment transversely across the conveyor to fixed positions for cutting food product as it moves on the conveyor, thereby achieving cutting at the rate of speed of the conveyor rather than the faster rate of speed of the cutter per se, thereby enabling the cutting of frozen food as well as other dense and fibrous products.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of this invention will appear from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings of preferred embodiments.